Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
In the midst of yet another tragic series with the ratbirds from St. Lou, a memory creeped in to my cramped brain.
It reminded me of what's good about baseball. That first time I saw and believed that this guy, this guy was IT. He was the be all and end all of the great game of baseball.
For me, amazingly, it wasn't Peter Edward Rose. Nor was it Mario Soto. It wasn't even one of my beloved Reds.
It was Nolan Ryan. I still have my 1971 Topps black border (favorite set) of him in his Mets uniform about to unleash a blurred fastball by a hopelessly overmatched hitter. (Hopefully not a Red). In fact, it was because of baseball cards that Nolan Ryan was my first favorite player. I love all the campy cartoon drawings on the backs of those cards and the fun stats they would highlight.
Anyhow, my first hero of this great game was the Ryan Express. My first Reds hero would have to be Hal Morris. (I hear those chuckles!)
What about you all?
http://www.vintagecardprices.com/pic...513/152191.jpg
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Fred Norman - my brother had a tshirt with him on it.
http://i.ebayimg.com/t/FRED-NORMAN-C...B!w~~60_35.JPG
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
ken griffey jr is seattle
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
George Arthur Foster swinging that sweet black bat. The numbers .320, 52, and 149 will be forever tattooed on my brain.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0909172935.jpg
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
You don't really want to know.
I don't want this thread to get off track.
My favorite non-Red, as a kid, was Willie Mays. I obviously missed his great years (I first became baseball-aware in about 1968), but my dad was a huge fan of his and always pointed Mays out to me. One of my first memories of Crosley Field was a game against the Giants, and my dad telling me that Mays was the best player in the game (this coming from a guy who personally saw Aaron's #714- I guess dad was just a Willie guy). Dad also loved Frank Robinson. Which is funny for a guy of his time, my dad, who I remember as being kind of racist. Maybe he wasn't?
Sadly, the thing I remember most about Mays playing was the 1973 World Series, when he was just a husk of the old Mays.
http://blog.photoshelter.com/wp-cont...t-old/mays.jpg
By the way, in the background there, is the cripple, Ray Fosse, who had his career ended by he-who-must-not-be-named in the 1970 All Star game.
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
OC_Red
My first Reds hero would have to be Hal Morris. (I hear those chuckles!)
Yes, that was me laughing, Hal loved headbanger music and I loved how he took a running start with every swing.
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Frank Robinson. Most compelling Reds player I've ever seen.
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RichRed
George Arthur Foster swinging that sweet black bat. The numbers .320, 52, and 149 will be forever tattooed on my brain.
great numbers!
Today, Redszone would say: .320/.382/.631/1.013 which are still great numbers!
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Loving these! Keep it up!
Always Red, absolutely...Hal was so fun to watch at bat. :)
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
http://halloffamememorabilia.com/ima...d-aw-40453.jpg
We'd do every single at bat like him no matter what.
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Just a shade before my time but my go-to answer is #14 more times than not but because of my dad.
The first player I was interested in researching on my own was Benito Santiago
"The Man w/ the Golden Gun"
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...ne/MAG1118844/
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images...jpg?1283291324
Re: Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?
Friends who didn't know who Davis was just wanted to swing that way too.